A screeching halt

JUSTIN BARNEYSports Editor

Published Saturday, December 04, 2004

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St. Augustine quarterback Carlton Smith is sacked by Bolles defenders Jerico Weitzel, 36, and Greg Chapas, 56, during Friday night's state semifinal playoff game at Brumley Field. Bolles defeated St. Augustine 42-16 to advance to the state finals.

By JUSTIN YURKANIN, Staff Twelve other teams already knew what St. Augustine High School found out on Friday night.

Bolles is unstoppable.

The Bulldogs walloped the Yellow Jackets 42-16 in the Class 3A state semifinal, advancing to next week's state championship game in Gainesville for the third consecutive year.

SAHS (11-1), which finished with an unbeaten regular season for just the third time in program history, saw its perfect record slam headfirst into the state's top-ranked team.

From open to close, Bolles (13-0) controlled every aspect of the game, rolling up 25 first downs and 482 yards of offense.

The Bulldogs had a 42-10 lead by the third quarter, pulled their starters midway through the fourth and sent fans streaming toward their cars early. Bolles drained the final 8 minutes, 57 seconds off the clock with reserve players.

The clinic left both players and coaches in awe of the machine that rolled through the Yellow Jackets like no other team had done before. Only a 35-0 loss against Niceville in the 1993 state playoffs was worse for the Yellow Jackets.

"They're even better in person than they were on film," SAHS coach Joey Wiles said. "They're one of the top two or three teams that I've played in 23 years of coaching. They are a well-oiled machine."

The Bulldogs went 80 yards without much resistance on their opening drive, stuffing the ball straight through the middle of the SAHS line. But not even Bolles' methodical 13-play march could upstage its next touchdown.

SAHS couldn't do anything on a Brandon James kickoff return to the Bolles 31 and was forced to punt it away after losing 10 yards. The Yellow Jackets downed the ball at the 1 and looked for their second safety of the state playoffs.

But Bolles didn't play it safe, emptying the backfield and putting the ball in the hands of quarterback Riley Skinner. Five yards deep into his own end zone, Skinner found receiver Rocky Ross behind Jacques Rickerson and put the ball perfectly in his hands. No Yellow Jacket came close to catching Ross, who single-handedly carved up SAHS' speedy secondary. Ross finished with six catches for 145 yards, although 140 of those came before halftime.

"I didn't expect them to come out throwing there," Wiles said.

That 99-yarder put Bolles up 14-0 with 5:52 left in the opening quarter. SAHS did its best to counter, plugging away at the interior of the Bulldog line with traps and sweeps. Rai-shawn Wilson had an 18-yard run and Carlos Hamilton sprung loose for a 19-yard pickup on the drive. Wilson capped it with a dive over the pile from the 1, cutting the deficit to 14-7.

But the Yellow Jackets' longest play the remainder of the night was just a 22-yard jaunt by Wilson.

"They're a great team with a good defense," said Wilson, who had both SAHS touchdowns and 78 yards rushing.

Bolles knocked SAHS around on both sides of the ball, and its pressure consistently swamped SAHS quarterback Carlton Smith. He finished 13 of 23 for 123 yards, but most of those came in the second half when the Yellow Jackets were forced to throw almost exclusively.

SAHS got within 11 just before the break on a 34-yard field goal by Steve Ray, but the chance at going into halftime trailing 21-10 didn't last. The Bulldogs took the ensuing kickoff back to the 49 and worked the ball to five different players on the drive. Ross outjumped Rickerson in the corner of the end zone, pulling in the fade from Skinner.

With 17 seconds before halftime, that touchdown virtually sealed it. Bolles piled up more than 300 yards in the opening half. SAHS had just 105.